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Among plants and words. Art, botany and citizenship
This book draws together the research, reflections and experiences arising from the activities organised by the University of Barcelona within the framework of Roots & Seeds XXI, comprising the 2nd HerbArt International Forum. Confluence between art and science and the workshop Nature and us: botany, traditional knowledge and literature in our environment.
On the basis of its social and cultural implications, artistic production has approached the dialogue between art and science as a way of questioning and analysing the contemporary world through new languages. Both scientists and artists are essentially explorers; their works are built on the search for knowledge through which to understand and communicate the world around us. The dialogue between scientific method and artistic expression and analysis is a source of great creative potential in order to activate new communication channels and legitimize a critical and transformative discourse of human relations with nature. The members of the team of the University of Barcelona-Botanical Institute of Barcelona have been striving to break down the wall between the two cultural areas through botany (science) and art (humanities).
JOAN VALLÈS and TERESA GARNATJE are, respectively, a professor at the Botany Laboratory of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the University of Barcelona and a researcher at the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (IBB, CSIC-Barcelona City Council). They belong to the EtnoBioFiC research group, dedicated to all aspects of plant diversity and genome evolution, as well as ethnobotany, and the overlap of social and natural sciences. The team has experience in subjects related to literature, art and botany. etnobiofic.cat
EVA FIGERAS and MAR REDONDO are professors and researchers in the Department of Visual Arts and Design of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Barcelona. They belong to the ‘Poció’ (Art, Poetry and Education) research group at the university, which is dedicated to researching and studying the characteristics of liminal poetics, especially hybrid genres. The aim is quality education, encouraging artistic and literary creation to develop critical thinking about two of today's major social challenges: social discrimination and environmental changes, so that creation can become an engine of social change. pocio.cat
PAULA BRUNA has a degree in Environmental Sciences, a master's degree in Terrestrial Ecology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona. From her dual perspective as environmentalist and artist, she uses artistic research as a form of knowledge where different disciplines are hybridized. In recent years, he has been researching the shaping of the story of the Anthropocene from a non-human point of view, through a combination of science, fiction and art.
MERCÈ COMPTE has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona. In 2003, she obtained a diploma of advanced studies from the Department of Sculpture of the University of Barcelona. As a researcher, she is a specialist in the study of historic gardens and, in particular, those from the beginning and middle of the 20th century, within "noucentisme" period.
AIRY GRAS MAS holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Barcelona and a master's degree in Phytotherapy from the Institute of Continuing Education of the University of Barcelona. Specialised in ethnobotany in Catalan-speaking territories, she works as a postdoctoral researcher in the EtnoBioFiC research group, working to preserve and value the traditional knowledge linked to plants as one of the foundations of our cultural roots.
PEP HERRERA is a final year student of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona. He participated in Roots & Seeds XXI during 2021, collaborating in research, management and communication tasks. As an artist, he has developed the illustrations that have defined the graphic and visual line of the activities organised by the University of Barcelona team.
JOSÉ MARÍA PARREÑO is professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Complutense University of Madrid. He is director of the group "Climatologías del Planeta y la Consciencia (UCM)", dedicated to analyzing and promoting artistic creations that increase awareness of human responsibility in climate change, currently with the research project "Ecological Humanities and Ecosocial Transitions. Ethical, aesthetic and pedagogical proposals for the Anthropocene".
MIGUEL SBASTIDA is a visual artist whose practice materialises in sculptures, video installations and performances. His works investigate the geopoetics of matter and environmental processes through ontological, scientific, ecocritical and posthumanist perspectives.
DANIEL VITALES, PhD in Biology and graduate in Environmental Sciences, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Botanical Institute of Barcelona, in the EtnoBioFiC research group, where he works on various aspects of systematics, phylogeny, phylogeography and plant evolution, using molecular methods. He also collaborates in ethnobotanical research.
Authors of interviewed worksheets: Aitana Bellido, Ma. Ángeles Ginés, Meritxell González, Pere Freixa, Mireia Molina Costa, Nuria Moliner, Antonia Piñeiro, Marta Rocamora
Acknowledgements: Oriol Masclans, director of Les Corts-Miquel Llongueras Library, Barcelona. Lluís Alonso, Aitana Bellido, Ana Bosch, Salvador Busquiel, Pepita Caldes, Eva Carbó, Assumpta Carbona, Roser Carretero, Ana Castillón, Montserrat Deltell, Josep Font, Maria Fontseré, Pere Freixa, Alicia Gabás, Asunción García, Jesús Gaset, Jordi Gayà, Ma. Ángeles Ginés, Meritxell González, Oriane Hidalgo, Tatiana Kourochkina, Nieves Martín, Isabel Miranda, Mireia Mirapeix, Mireia Molina Costa, Nuria Moliner, Jacqueline Molnár, Antoni Montero, Eleno Moreno, Antonia Piñeiro, Montserrat Prats, Lourdes Prieto, Mercè Rocadembosch, Elvira Silvestre, Ma. Dolores Tarrió, Evarista Tomico, Montserrat Salvatella.
Images by Joan Martínez Urango